


I would love some company

by b0rnbackwards



Series: ACoTaR - Short fics [2]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 03:47:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10778928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/b0rnbackwards/pseuds/b0rnbackwards
Summary: “If you are planning to drink that tea alone, I would happily keep you company.”Happily. It seemed... Normal. Like a human man that talked to her and tried to win her heart.“I would love some company,” she said, and meant it.--OR, that time where Az's wings were the end of Elain.





	I would love some company

**Author's Note:**

> Sarah darling, you wanted Elriel fluff. You mentioned wings. I couldn't not do it. Here's to you, the first time Elriel flied together.

Elain was bored. It was winter, the parties in the court were not formal events for you to meet people, but rather just for dance and pleasures. She didn’t want to go out at night and have a thousand males try to conquer her like some trophy. She wanted to meet people. To know the social ways of this land. She wanted, at least, to know it’s flowers. But it was winter. And she was bored. 

She saw how Feyre would absolutely love this city. Feyre loved to paint and bring colors and action into things. She wasn’t much for the delicacies of life, for the niceness of knowing nice people. Feyre would do all kinds of things in this city; Elain didn’t want to. 

Maybe she was just having a hard time adjusting, maybe the city was full of nice people she didn’t have the chance to meet. Maybe she could try and do something with her time other than sit by the window and watch the city. 

That was her main activity, as Nesta became fast friends - or at least Nesta’s version of a friend - with the general, and they all had trainings and such. Nesta seemed to like it, and so she let her sister to it. But she couldn’t and wouldn’t indulge in being violent, not now and not ever. So she just retreated to her room, and watched the city by the window. While Nesta had made connections, Elain hadn’t. Not really. At home, she was the best at doing such things, but here she just didn’t fit in, and it annoyed her and made her so extremely bored. 

She had just gave up on her usual activity to go get some tea from the kitchen when she found Azriel in the living room, with a book in his hand. 

“Hi,” he said, and she wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to talk or out of courtesy. As always, shadows revolved around him, and some seemed to peer over his shoulder. Maybe trying to read that book, too. 

“Hello, Azriel. Shouldn’t you be training upstairs?” 

“Indeed. But I got sick from the fights between your sister and my brother. And please, call me Az,” he smiled at her then, and it seemed genuine, so she smiled back.

“Oh, well. I suppose Nesta likes him. She usually never bothers to give attention to people who annoy her.” 

“Right. And Cassian just loves annoying people. I would say it’s his favorite hobby.”

“Those two seem like a perfect match, then.” 

As she said it, they fell quiet. In fact, the entire room seemed to go still, the air between them heavy, somehow. Elain took a deep breath, trying to find a way out without seeming impolite.

“Well, I was just on my way to the kitchen to get some tea, so...”

“Oh. Of course. I’m sorry I...” 

“It’s alright. I’ll just be on my way.” 

She turned to leave then, hoping she could become better at this someday. With humans, she was graceful, and she could make men fall at her feet with not much more than two words, but with fae, and with Azriel specially, it seemed.. Hard. She got nervous around him, even though she could never admit it, not even to herself. She wanted this to be like the human interactions she had. Where the men would try hard to talk to her, the girls try to be friends with her. It wasn’t. Even though Mor sometimes talked to her, they never really connected. And as she stepped away toward the kitchen, she was secretly grateful that Azriel spoke to her. Not making small talk, he actually spoke. 

“If you are planning to drink that tea alone, I would happily keep you company.” 

Happily. It seemed... Normal. Like a human man that talked to her and tried to win her heart. 

“I would love some company,” she said, and meant it. 

* * *

 

It became a routine. They had tea every afternoon, sitting outside in the snow. She didn't feel any cold, obviously. Because Az was always keeping them warm, like a small heated bubble formed around them. Some days, Azriel was out and took a while to come for tea, but he always appeared in the house and found her, with two mugs of tea, and asked where she wanted to drink tea that day. Sometimes she felt guilty pulling him from his duties for such a simple thing as drinking tea, but it was the best human - fae - contact she had. And Azriel was sure a delight, always armed with funny remarks and interesting facts. 

They mostly talked about the fae, how they behaved, each court's culture, things like that. Sometimes they talked about their siblings, complaining about them in a way Elain always asked him not to tell anyone she did, and Azriel always promised her words would die with him. Every day she was curious to ask about him but never did. He never seemed to open up to her in that way. His shadows - her second biggest curiosity - always getting darker whenever they touched any subject that came close to his personal life. Elain never found an opportunity to ask him about himself. About his shadows. His wings. They were her biggest curiosity. The thing she would like to know the most. How it felt to fly. 

One day, she was waiting for him by the door to the now covered in snow garden and he came flying down to it, landing in front of her, and she found her opportunity. 

"Hi," he said, and accepted the mug she handed him, moving to the table to sit. His magical heat took less than a second to shield her completely from the cold. 

"Hey. Were you..." 

"Working? Yes. But it's mostly boring now." 

She took her seat beside him and sipped on her mug. 

"But you get to fly a lot." He smiled a beautiful smile, his shadows hiding behind his shoulder. 

"Yeah, I do... Elain?" 

Elain blinked. She looked at Az and saw redness  taking over his cheeks. She realized she had been looking at his wings and her own heated up. 

"Sorry. I... They're just so fascinating." She turned away, then, suddenly not wanting to talk about his wings anymore. Fascinating - yes. She wasn't lying about that. But it wasn't the first word on her mind. Beautiful was the word she would use to describe Az's wings. They were black, but seemed to have little shining bits that danced in the sunlight. Mesmerizing, is what it was. What _he_ was. Elain looked at the ground, the snow that fell, the street, anything but him and his stupid dancing shadows and his stupid beautiful wings. 

"I could take you any day you want." He said, and then blushed violently when she looked at him. "Flying! Take you flying." He scratched his neck, looking away, embarrassed. She laughed, thankful for this bit of humor, even though it was an accident. 

"You would do that? Take me flying?" 

"Of course. I can bet you would love it."

"I would. I would love to go. I really want to know what flying feels like." He smiled again, the small tension from her idiotic moment dissipating. He got up, leaving his mug on the table and extending his hand to her. 

"Well then, shall we?" 

Elain took his hand without thinking twice, and imitated his movement to leave the mug on the table. He hugged her - no, held her - by the waist, gluing his side to hers. 

"Hold on tight," was all the warning she got before he opened his wings and took to the skies. And so she did. She hugged his neck with all the strength she had, and regretted ever taking his hand for a moment as they went up, her stomach turning a bit. Just a moment, though. When they stopped going up and he stabilized, going only onward, to the sea, she felt just fine, and the wind kissed her face gently, and the city was full of colors even though it was winter. She felt something that couldn't be explained, at least she couldn't find the words for it. It seemed as though she could hold the entire city in the palm or her hand, like she had no limits. She gasped. 

"This is incredible!" 

The words came out louder than she intended, and she heard Azriel's "yeah" in response to them, but couldn't look at him. Not when she could see the whole world.

She took in every detail she could, and started to imagine all the places she could go, if she had wings like his. She didn't know how long they flew, but he went through the whole coast of the city, and then made a circle to finally land in the mountains. The house she knew was up there, but had never visited. They landed in a balcony, and she found that she didn't like landing one bit, because even with his magical heat, the absence of his actual body heat made her feel cold. He didn't go far, though. Only a step, was the difference between them, as he looked at the city beyond. 

"See how it's not the same?" He asked, and she saw in his eyes that he would never stop flying if he had it his way. 

"It really isn't," she agreed. "Thank you so much. It was amazing." She smiled with all her heart, and he smiled right back. A different smile this time, one she had never seen on him. It was a big, bright smile, not a shy one. He wore it well. 

"I will do it every single day and fly you wherever you want if it means seeing that smile on your face."

She blushed. And froze. And her heart seemed to beat fast and slow at the same time. She tried to find words to say, but couldn't. He came close, that step between them gone, and she didn't know if she felt happy or scared that she had nowhere to go. Not that the distance would make any difference, it felt like her feet were glued to the ground. 

She felt her scent fill her nose, and it felt so strangely good she closed her eyes, and opened them again when she felt his hand on her chin. 

"Can I..." He started, tentative. But she didn't let him finish. 

"Yes," she breathed, nervous and as mess of nerves, but feeling his scent, and his warmth as he put his hand on her waist to pull her close. She didn't close her eyes until she felt the first touch of his lips on her, trying to take in everything, wondering if his shadows would involve her like they did to him. They did, and it made feel... Protected. 

He kissed her so softly and slowly she thought time froze, and when they separated and she opened her eyes, she found his hazel ones looking at her, _smiling_ at her. And in that moment she decided that being out of the human lands wasn't so bad after all. 


End file.
